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Abe
Senior Member
since 2003-05-28
Posts 694
Looks like Vero Beach, FL until the end!

0 posted 2009-09-15 09:27 AM



POW/MIA
(Etched on Ellis County Veterans
Memorial in Waxahachie, Texas)

So many fates are left unknown
And so many rumors that abound
So many families ask the question
“When will, the answers be found?”

So many years have come and gone
Sometimes, hope is hard to keep
There’s some who feel there’s none
And in some, it’s buried deep.

The pain, is in not knowing
How, to put loved ones’ to rest
When there is no way to prove
They have passed, the final test.

But, no matter what the answers
We can’t let this cause alone
Until, each and every one of them
Is found, and brought back home


POW/MIA STORIES

It's hard to find, the stories
That, they won't talk about
It's hard, to realize the things
That they had, to go, without.

How can they let the feelings
(Even, they don't understand)
Show to, any other people
In this, Freedom's Land.

We can’t know, the hardships
Unless, we were there
Especially, when they came back home
To those who didn't, seem, to care.

Unless you had, lived through it
Watching, Comrades that had died
Why should they, talk about it to us
Of, the tears, inside, they've cried?

Even, if they chose to tell us
What difference, would it make
Would it be worth the chance
That they, would have to take.

Why should they bare their soul
That's already been, stripped, clean
Because, even with, a picture of it
We couldn't see, what they have seen.

Sometimes, all we have to do
Is, to look into their eyes
And think that we might see or hear
Their, mournful, pain-filled cries.

That POW who came home
Who lived, through that Hell
Can't tell the stories, of the MIA
Whonever had, a chance to tell!

So, we may never, ever, know
Of, the horrors, they have, known
And, if we think about it
It's probably best, that they aren't shown!

But there is, always an end
To every, never-ending story
Althoughsometimes, they’re never told
In, all their Truth and Glory.

So if you ask about it
And if you ever wonder why
They won’t talk of that nightmare
Maybe now, you might know, Why?


POW/MIA

For as long as we have Wars
And we send our Young to fight
We’ll have Those who are Missing
And the POWs plight.
All People of this Nation
Have this Duty to fulfill.
We must keep Them in our thoughts
And, We must have the Will
To bring every One home
And do all we can to find
All those POW/MIAs
And leave NO Souls behind.

POW/MIA ISSUE

Ten years of "BITS 'N' PIECES"
By some People who still care
In a search for clues and answers
About Those We left "over there".

Trying to get the military
And all those politicians
To take actions to find Them
With calls, letters and petitions.

It's a sad State of Affairs
When the families and friends
Must lead the Battle in the Search
In this War that never ends.

All those loved ones still Missing
Who went to War for me and you
Deserve much more from our Country
Than just the efforts of those few.

"The National Alliance of Families"
Carries that Banner for us all
To bring home those Forgotten
Who answered our Nation's Call.

Please visit their pages
And give them a helping hand
For if "One Missing" was "One" close to you
Maybe then, you'd understand.

©Copyright 05 September 2004 by Del "Abe" Jones
"The National Alliance of Families" http://www.nationalalliance.org/home1.htm


POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY
(The third Friday of September)

As time goes on, remains are found
And another finds his way back home
After years spent lost on foreign shores
Feeling forgotten and left all alone.

But they will never be forgotten
By the Country they went off to serve
We will search until all are returned
To loved ones, the least they all deserve.

There are new ways to identify
DNA can tell, just who they may be
Those lost in those past conflicts
A Hero home, their final destiny.

War is so terrible and horrific
Worse for the POW and the MIA
All of those unaccounted for
Compounds the price they chose to pay.

Each year, we should all remember
Those we lost in the fog of War
Better yet, take a moment every day
While we appreciate what they fought for.

POW/MIA Recognition Day
Dedicated to honor their memory
For the time or the life they gave
To keep this, "The Land of the Free".

09.13.2007

POW/MIA Remembrance Day
(Third Friday of September)

Thousands are still missing
From those Wars of the past
Slowly, some are coming home
To grieving Families, at last.

Some found in unmarked graves
On foreign lands across the sea
With the science of DNA
To reveal, their true identity.

JPAC was formed to find them
Around fourteen hundred, to date
And for loved ones seeking closure
It surely, never is, too late.

They think, forty thousand left
They might be able to recover
As they follow leads and tips
From, one country to another.

Some remains, may be lost forever
Like those Heroes, resting in the Deep
But, to bring those others home
Is a solemn promise, we must keep.

It’s a very noble thing they do
As, they go, and search, and find
Those, who died for our Country
For, we must, leave no one behind.

Every year we have a special day
To, remember those still lost
To, renew that promise to them
No matter what, it may cost.

09.18.2008


POW/MIA Missing Man Ceremony

There’s a table in the front
Raised so that it draws attention
Reserved for all those missing
Still not found or in detention.

Set for six of those missing
One each, for branches Serving
One place for lost Civilians
Whom, are felt just as deserving.

The table is shaped in the round
For the everlasting concern
As all of us, hope and pray
Someday they all, will return.

The tablecloth is bright white
To symbolize the purity
Of those, answering the call
Of their Country, doing their Duty.

The single rose, in a vase
For the lifeblood of those lost
And for those awaiting answers
A sad part of Wartime’s cost.

The vase, tied with red ribbon
A symbol of determination
To account for those still missing
In the Service of our Nation.

A slice of lemon on the bread plate
For missing/captured in a foreign land
The bitter fate of some Heroes
Who chose to make a valiant stand.

A pinch of salt for all those tears
Shed, by missing and their Families
Seeking answers to their questions
From all those faraway countries.

The Bible represents the strength
Gained through Faith, to sustain
Those missing on foreign shores
Where, far too many, still remain!

Each of their glasses are inverted
Because, they can’t share the toast
That, one day we can account for them
What we want, first and foremost.

The candle is a light of Hope
To illuminate the way back home
To the loved ones who are waiting
Across the sea to Homeland’s loam.

The chair just sits there empty
A place saved for just the one
Who has yet, to come home
And one each, for their brethren.

An Honor Guard places covers
On each empty dinner plate
For the Services and Civilian
Who have met, this terrible fate.

“Taps” is played, and “Some Gave All”
With a spotlight on their table
With a toast, for their accounting, sworn
For, as long as we all are able.

This solemn Honors Ceremony
Symbolizes they are here with us
Hoping someday, they will be back
This wish, the most, in God we trust.

This can be done for six or one
For, the meaning is the same
That all, will be returned one day
This, we pray, in Heaven’s Name.

07.19.2008

Abe,
I sent your poem paying tribute to POW/Missing vets to a friend in Iraq who serves over there as a contractor doing work for the Iraqis...he's a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel...he sent back a reply that the mess hall where he eats regularly has such a table set up for Missing/POW for all to see who come in there...he thought it ironic to receive that poem.
So, i replied back to him, "why don't you see what you can do to have the poem displayed on the table"...well, he replied back with the email that i am forwarding to you...i thought you'd want to know that your poem is getting displayed in the war zone.
Keep up the good work,
Herb

Herb
I verified that the poem sits directly across from the reserved chair. Adjacent to the rose. Our table has only one chair and is leaned against the table as if to reserve the seat.
Best Regards
Bill


Del "Abe" Jones
Mankind's greatest accomplishment is not the revolution of technology, it is the evolution of creativity. copyright 1984

© Copyright 2009 Del - All Rights Reserved
GBride
Senior Member
since 2009-07-02
Posts 538

1 posted 2009-09-16 06:03 PM


A wonderful tribute!!!
JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
2 posted 2009-09-17 07:28 PM


Fine writing...James
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